Mohit Suri says that the "ideal love" that he has presented in "Aashiqui 2", is inspired by the unconditional love that his wife Udita Goswami showers on him. Therefore he gives her "full credit" for the success of the romantic-musical saga.
Released on Friday, "Aashiqui 2" earned over Rs.20 crore at the box office in the first three days of its release. Suri also can't stop thanking his stars for his happiness.
"And by stars I don't mean Aditya and Shraddha," he joked. "I mean the stars above," he said.
"People say the kind of sublime ideal love I've shown in 'Aashiqui 2' doesn't exist. I say, 'Come home. I've the perfect love at home. Udita cares for me unconditionally'. So I am allowing her to take full credit for the success of 'Aashiqui 2'," added the director.
Suri recalls 2012 as the darkest phase of his life.
"People said I couldn't make a film with new actors and expect an audience to come in. But I was pretty sure I wanted Aditya and Shraddha to play my protagonists. My writer Shagufta Rafique and I saw them as the protagonists. See, Aditya and Shraddha may had unsuccessful films before, but that never took away from their talent. Sure. sometimes films don't work out. Even I've had failures."
Interestingly, Suri had offered Shraddha another film. "And she had rejected it long back! I remember when I met her for the first time, she came out with oil in her hair and wearing specs. She was talking to her mother in Marathi. But when I met her the next time, she had changed into a typical heroine with groomed hair and full makeup. I told her I had come to her for the way she looked earlier. Poor thing, she was confused."
As for Aditya, it was a failed talent hunt that landed him the role.
Suri said: "We had this wise idea of launching a nationwide talent for new faces in 'Aashiqui 2'. That idea fell flat on its face. The youngsters who came forward were not good enough and some who were promising agreed to download their videos for a screen-test only if we promised them a role. So we gave up.
"Then I saw Aditya's pictures. When I met him, I was convinced he was my Rahul Jaikar. Unlike the other aspirants, he didn't meet me dressed like a star reeking of expensive perfume. Some of them even had their eyebrows done! Aditya came in his shorts. He just told me honestly, 'My brother (producer Siddharth Roy Kapoor) says you're a good director.'
"Aditya was not aware of the impact of the original 'Aashiqui'. So, he responded to my script and his characters without any baggage. That tilted the scale in his favour. Also, Aditya used to be a lead singer in a band, he knows how to play the guitar, so playing a musician came naturally to him."
Reacting to critics saying Aditya doesn't have the body language of a musician Suri shrugs, "That's exactly what I didn't want, the know-it-all body language."
Also Suri, director of films like "Kalyug", "Murder 2", needed contrasting personalities.
"Shraddha and Aditya are two completely different individuals. That's what we needed. And they were not stressed by having to repeat the 'Aashiqui' success."
